I’ve been reading James Ferrell’s The Hidden Christ, which is extremely excellent, and I just read chapter 19, “The Dispensation’s of the Lord’s People,” where he gives a chiastic chart of Earth’s history. It’s very good, and it reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about for a month or so, since my wife and I had a discussion about what the Earth will be like after the Second Coming.
That got me to researching, and some things clicked with me. Below are some notes I’ve been putting together about these thoughts. They represent my attempt to put some doctrinal concepts in a recognizable pattern, and it strongly emphasizes the role of Jesus Christ. In fact, looking at our spiritual journey this way adds a powerful dimension to our understanding that, through the Atonement, Christ “descended below all things.” We can see here that, literally, his suffering and distance from the Father were absolutely beyond even the worst of mankind’s experience. It was also, again quite literally, the ultimate turning point in history.
The only thing that confused me at first was the idea that, if Eden and the Millennium are Christ’s domain, then how could the Father also be present in the Garden of Eden? I soon realized that God may go anywhere He wishes; it is we who are limited by veils and sin. After all, didn’t both the Father and the Son appear personally to Joseph Smith in this fallen, telestial world? Joseph Smith had to be transfigured for that to be possible, and I suppose Adam and Eve must have enjoyed a similar experience, in their innocent and immortal state, to behold the Father in the Garden.
On a slightly less spiritual note, this map also highlights an aspect of good storytelling, which has also been on my mind lately. I often think that basic story patterns are essentially encoded into us (think of Campbell’s Hero With a Thousand Faces, as well as the fondness for using elemental stories to resonate with us in the scriptures and temple), and one of the most fundamental aspects of good story is that the hero must face a daunting, scary setback in the middle, even suffering a literal descent. Think here of Odysseus going down to Hades, the discouraging tones of The Two Towers and The Empire Strikes Back (each the middle of an epic), or the predictable fight that the lovers must have in the middle of every romantic comedy, before they reconcile and reunite (sappy, but also another Atonement-centered device).
Most of the “insights” on this chart aren’t very original, but I enjoyed drawing it up to see these things together in graphic form for the first time. This is only a rough draft, and any refinement to it is welcome. Click to enlarge.
Gently Hew Stone 
Loved Campbell. Guess I need to read The Hidden Christ.
I had to change my nom de plume back. The doctor said that my recovery from my stroke was nothing short of miraculous. Although I still can’t spell.
Do a search: The First Scandal Adam and Eve.
Liked the diagram. Nice job. Great book, huh?